How to smoke without getting addicted

First, the obligatory disclaimer - Smoking kills. If you
end up dying of a horrible body-and-soul-consuming disease
in 40 years, don't come whining to me. We all know the
risks of smoking, and if you do so, you make a choice
to do it.

Okay, conscience-placating time over. On to the fun:

We all have a friend who somehow manages to smoke
every now and then, and has done so seemingly
forever, yet doesn't ever "need" a cigarette.
Did you ever wonder how they can do this, despite
all the bad press we constantly hear about the
addictiveness of cigarettes?

Now, some people will read this and think,
"WhywouldIwanttosmoke?".
Numerous other writeups exist to provide reasons to
smoke (as linked in the previous sentence). I will
mention only the one that does it for me - Nicotine
acts as a very effective mental stimulant, great
for helping you study, for conversation, or just
for a quick pick-me-up.

Others will point out that, despite the benefits,
smokinghasprovennegativeconsequencesonone'shealth.
Plenty of other nodes (again, click any link from the
previous sentence) mention that as well, so I'll only
give a quick comment on this. Though not actually
good for you,
virtually all of the research on smoking's health
effects deals with high-volume smoking. Based on
a metastudy by Peter N. Lee, smoking under ten
cigarettes per day had a median risk factor of
3.72. Not all that high, and includes folks
who smoke quite a lot more than what I would
call "casual".

First, if you've never smoked, go read a few of the
tutorials on how to smoke correctly, such as
Advice to new smokers or
How to be a polite smoker in a non-smoking world.
I'll admit, when I tried my first few cigarettes,
I completely screwed
it up. I remember a friend pointing out my
biggest error (not inhaling) - The next drag I
took, I inhaled. I didn't cough. I didn't choke.
I just slowly sat down, realizing that in a few
moments I would lack the ability to stand. Yes,
it felt that intense. Only lasted for a few minutes,
but WOW does your first cigarette ever feel
great!

The real secret to smoking without getting hooked
lies in when you smoke. It doesn't so much matter
how much you smoke, although keep in mind
that more than one or two a day for over a month
will result in some degree of physical
addiction. As most smokers will tell you, though,
the biggest problem in quitting involves the
psychological addiction. Thus:

Rule #1 - Do not smoke at any regular interval,
time, or place, or while doing any particular
activity. Doing so will cause you to begin
associating that interval/time/place/activity
with smoking. This results in you wanting,
and eventually "needing", a cigarette based on
that association. For example, if you regularly
have a smoke during your lunch-break at work,
eventually you will start doing so not because
you just want to, but out of habit.

A number of people, with just enough knowledge
of psychology to allow them to run around babbling
nonsense, may (correctly) point out that an irregular
reward schedule leads to learning a behavior
(aka conditioning, which in this case basically means
addiction) faster than any other known method of
behavior modification. The classic examples of this
include gambling and belief in superstitions. This
holds true, but does not apply to casual smoking,
for one simple reason - You do the smoking itself
at more-or-less random times. Every time you choose
to smoke, however, you get the reward. So while you
could still fairly call that classical conditioning,
following rule #1 will minimize its effects by reducing
consistently paired stimuli.

Rule #2 - Do not smoke more than two cigarettes
per day for longer than two weeks. I made this
mistake once, during a particularly grueling
semester in college. While you can fairly
easily overcome a (mild) purely physical addiction
by simple abstinence, I would describe it as "very
unpleasant", to say the least, for the first three
days. You do not want to experience
withdrawal symptoms. Which brings us to:

Rule #3 - If you find the number of cigarettes you
smoke slowly increasing, immediately quit
smoking for at least a few weeks. Failure to rigidly
adhere to rule #3 presents you with the quickest
and easiest path to a real addiction to cigarettes.
Conversely, if you follow this rule without exception,
particularly in combination with rule #2, you have a
very good chance of never needing to go through
the hell of withdrawal.

To help you follow rule #3, I recommend picking an
upper limit for yourself, such as "10 per week, 3
per day". That doesn't mean you should actually
smoke that much regularly - Just limit yourself to
that, and if you find yourself either frequently
wanting to bend the rules, or always waiting
anxiously for a new week so you can have your
next cigarette, consider it time to quit for
a while.

Rule #4 -Hygiene. After smoking, wash your
hands and rinse out your mouth (I usually gargle a bit).
Aside from the simple fact that stale smoke on you
smells disgusting (though more to others
than to yourself), the lingering smell will keep
the thought of your next cigarette in your mind.
Additionally, as a sub-rule to #4, never smoke in
any enclosed places, such as your car or house. It
takes quite a lot more work to wash those
free of the smell than to wash yourself.

Rule #5 - Do not date
or marry a regular smoker. Even if you think you can
resist the temptation of having a constant reminder
of cigarettes, consider the risk of just a few weeks
of weakness. Also, if you date another casual smoker,
avoid smoking together except for rare occasions
when everyone around you smokes as well, such as at
a club or concert. I can't even count the number of
people who've complained that they could
quit smoking, and have no problem just giving it
up, but every time their significant other lights
up, it takes an act of god-like will to resist following
suit.

So, if you adhere to this guide to casual smoking, you
may well enjoy a lifetime (only slightly reduced in
length, if at all) of smoking, without all the normal
negative consequences smoking carries.